Chapter Two
Instinct told her to keep going and not look back but there was something in his voice that made her hesitate. “What?” She turned around with an impatient sigh.
To her surprise he was only inches away from her. It was unnerving how a man his size could move with such stealth. “Pardon me for not being up on the latest fashion but those boots you’re wearing, what are they?”
She furrowed her brow in confusion, wondering what he was getting at with such an odd question. Noelle bit the inside of her bottom lip before answering. “They’re YSL.”
“Yves St. Laurent? Correct?”
She nodded, still not sure why he wanted to know about her boots of all things.
“And these jeans?” He slipped closer until she could feel his breath on her face. He ran his hand along her thigh. “I noticed the fancy design on your bottom. I see a lot of the young socialites wear them. Who designed them?”
“James—“she began but was cut off when he placed his index finger over her lips.
“Just answer the question, Noelle. “
“Roberto Cavalli but I don’t see what—“
“And how about the top? Pure silk isn’t it?”
Noelle was sure he had a point but it was taking him way too long to get to it. “Does it really matter? Look, I’ve got to go. Simone is waiting for me.” Before she could take a step, James gripped her forearms and twisted her around until her back was flush with his chest. James then plucked out the tag from the back of her shirt.
“Dolce and Gabbana,” he read. “Nice.” James spanned her neck with his large hand. “And this gold chain, how much do you think this cost?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered, her nerves frazzled from his touch. He pressed his hardness against her ass. She didn’t want to respond to him as she so often did but her traitorous body let her down yet again.
“Of course you don’t, my dear. But I do. I know exactly what everything you’re wearing costs down to the lace panties.” He leaned over brushing his lips against the shell of her ear. “Guess how I know.”
It finally dawned on her what he was getting at and Noelle didn’t want to hear another word of it. “James I’m in no mood for these games.” She attempted to break free from his hold but the hand that had only been resting against her collarbone now tightened around her neck. His grip barely allowed her to breathe. “James…” she choked.
“Exactly. James. I paid for it all, signed the bills myself just as I did for that walk-in closet of clothes you couldn’t pronounce when you met me or the hundreds of shoes, the jewelry in the wall safe, the lines of credit, this penthouse and the Mercedes. All yours as long as you continue to grant me the access of your delectable body whenever I want and however I want.”
Unshed tears burned her eyes at his cruel reminder of the lifestyle he’d set her up in. “I never asked for any of this,” she whispered.
“But you agreed to the deal from the very beginning, did you not?” He ran his tongue along the curve of her ear and her knees nearly gave out on her. She wished she didn’t respond so easily to him. Her nipples pebbled against her blouse and her pussy clenched spontaneously.
“I….I never agreed to be treated like this,” Noelle cried, trying again to turn around but was unsuccessful again.
His hand tightened around her throat robbing her of air and then slowly loosening yet not quite releasing her. “Oh? The bargain, if I may remind you sweetheart, is for you to be available to service my needs when and however I want and in return you’ll be handsomely compensated. You’re not by chance reneging on our deal are you? After all, you’ve never had any problem spending my money. You’d like to pretend you don’t enjoy the lifestyle but you love every bit of it. So what do you call a woman who lives rent free in an exclusive neighborhood, has access to all the money her greedy little heart desires and receives other financial perks simply for the use of her body? I know a lot of women like to pretty the word up and call themselves mistresses or girlfriends but let’s be honest and call it what it is. You’re a—“
“Don’t say it!” she cut him off knowing how much it would kill her to hear him call her the word she feared most regardless if it was true.
“Okay, I’ll allow you your pretense but make no mistake about our arrangement, as long as you enjoy the benefits in which I provide, I expect a return on my investment. Everything in this penthouse belongs to me including you and I say you’re not going a goddamn place unless I say so. Do we understand each other?”
The tears she had fought to hold back slid down her cheeks. She wanted to argue and scream at him but he didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. The last little bit of pride she had was hanging by a thread and Noelle realized as much as it would kill her to do so, she had to leave him if she wanted to hold on to it.
“Let me go,” she bit out, her voice shaky with emotion.
James whirled her around to face him and pushed her against the wall. He placed his hands on either side of her head and leaned over until their noses touched. His handsome face was screwed up in a mask of pure determination and another emotion she couldn’t quite place. His lips curled into a sneer. “You protest like you don’t want me to fuck you but you’re already trembling. Your body gives you away every single time, baby. I bet you’re so wet right now your panties are soaked.” To test his theory he slipped his hand inside her waistband and cupped her hot sex.
Noelle cried out when he touched her, ashamed of herself for liking it more than she should. He slid his finger along her damp slit before pulling his hand out of her pants. “Oh yeah. You want to be fucked so bad you can’t even look me in the eye and deny it. Those pretty lips might say one thing but your body says another.” James ran his dew-drenched fingers across her bottom lip, flaunting the evidence of her desire. “Lick it,” he commanded.
She shook her head, denying him his request.
“Do it, Noelle. It’s easy. See?” He dipped his head and swiped her bottom lip with his tongue. James then ran his wet finger over her mouth again. “Your turn.”
Noelle met his intense stare which for reasons she couldn’t explain seemed detached. On most days James was never an overly emotional guy but tonight something was definitely off. She couldn’t reconcile this stranger from the one she’d had such a pleasant time with only a few short weeks ago. That charming man who’d held her and comforted her when she was in need seemed hell-bent on humiliating her in every way possible. “Why are you being like this?”
He raised a dark brow. “Being like what?”
“Last time…you helped me…”
“I may be a bastard according to most, but I don’t always act like one. You needed help. I gave it to you. Don’t mistake anything I do for more than what it is. Now stop stalling and do it,” he barked.
Noelle jumped in surprise but finally obeyed his order. She ran her tongue across her bottom lip, tasting the juice of her arousal.
He smiled though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Good girl. That wasn’t so hard now was it? Now tell me how badly you want this cock.” He gripped her hand and guided it to his rock hard shaft.
Noelle shook her head from side to side. “Not like this James,” she whispered even though her mind screamed the words.
James squeezed her hand around his cock. “Yes like this. You’re here to take care of my needs and I need you now.” He moved to kiss her but just as their lips were about to meet Noelle turned her head away. He growled at her defiance. The next thing she knew he grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her head back so hard she let out a yelp of surprise and pain.
“Don’t turn away from me again, especially when we both know how hot you are to have my dick buried balls deep in you pretty little pussy”, he taunted before crushing her lips beneath his. He pushed his tongue deep into her mouth, devouring and stealing her breath away. His cock pressed against her hard and ready.
Keeping a tight grip in her hair James lifted his head and grazed his teeth against her neck then bit into her vulnerable flesh. His lips smothered hers again, drowning out her cries.
Noelle brought her hands up to push him away but something happened to her the second she touched his heated flesh. A delicious wave of electricity licked its way along every single nerve ending in her body. Her pussy tingled and she desperately wanted him thrusting deep inside of her. Her mind and her body were at odds. One screamed stop, the other screamed don’t ever stop.
James grabbed a handful of her shirt and ripped it down the front. “You’re mine. You belong to me. All of you.” He released the grip on her hair, giving Noelle only a moment’s relief before hauling her in his arms and carrying her the short distance to the bed.
He dropped her in the center none too gently. The temporary disconnect of their bodies gave her passion-hazed brain a moment of clarity. “James, please. Can’t we talk about this?” She tried to sit up but James was on her before she could slide off the bed. When he straddled her, Noelle attempted to push him away, but he captured her wrists in his strong grip.
“If the conversation doesn’t involve my cock in your cunt, there’s nothing to discuss. I already told you, you’re mine and I will have you when I want and how I want.” In an effortless demonstration of his strength, he took both wrists in one hand and held them over her head. He wasted no time ripping her bra down the front, ruining it.
Noelle’s face burned with humiliation even though her insides flamed even hotter. She pressed her thighs tightly together embarrassed at how badly she wanted him inside of her despite his offhand treatment and the blatant disregard for her feelings.
He captured one of her now exposed nipples between his lips sucking so fiercely he pushed her to the edge of pleasure and pain. He licked and laved the area and bit into her tender flesh digging in deep enough to break skin, to hurt her—to mark her.
“Please,” Noelle cried out not sure if she was begging for him to stop or continue.
He raised his head long enough to give her a sardonic grin. “Please what?”
Noelle shook her head from side to side unable to get the words past her lips. That knowing smile was her undoing. She turned her head away unable to meet his gaze, ashamed of her own weakness.
He chuckled, almost manically. “That’s right. You want it so bad you can’t speak.” He returned his attention to her breasts, rotating between each one and leaving his mark on both before moving lower.
Releasing her wrists his hands flew to her jeans. Noelle’s mind was in a haze as he made short order of divesting her of her boots, jeans and panties. It occurred to her while he roughly removed the remainder of her clothing she should fight back but he’d primed her for his touch making it damn near impossible to protest.
“Clasp your hands together, place them over your head and don’t move.”
“James—“
“Do it!” he barked.
She did as he commanded trembling in anticipation and anxiety. He’d been forceful with her before but not quite like this. She was however too caught up in her own warring emotions to analyze it.
James gripped one of her thighs digging so deep his nails pinched her. He parted the damp folds of her pussy and ran his thumb over her clit causing Noelle to quiver uncontrollably. “Look at all this sweet honey dripping from this juicy cunt just for me. You can’t wait to be fucked can you?” He shoved his index and middle finger inside of her without his usual finesse creating a delicious friction. “Tell me how bad you want me.”
Noelle bit the inside of her lip aching for him to take her but clinging to her last bit of pride.
James’s intense gray gaze bored into her. “Tell me,” he whispered, silkily letting up on the pressure just a bit to stroke her just right and managing to hit every single erogenous zone inside of her.
“Don’t make me,” she whispered all while she continued to respond to him slamming his fingers in and out of her.
He pulled his wet fingers out of her pussy and pinched her clit applying more pressure than she was used to. “Say it, Noelle.”
It hurt a bit but it was the kind of pain that felt so good. “Yes,” she whispered.
He pinched harder. “Louder.”
“Yes! Fuck me James!”
His eyes flashed with a spark of possessiveness that sent a quiver racing along her spine. “Since you ask so nicely...” He guided his cock to her entrance and slammed into her so deep the air was robbed from her lungs.
His thrusts were hard and angry as if he was proving to her the very thing she tried to deny. She was nothing more than his whore. “Look at me when I fuck you, Noelle. I want you to know exactly who you belong to you. I want you to look into my eyes when you come.”
When she refused, he gripped her chin and forcefully turned her head. “I said look at me!” he ordered through gritted teeth. “I’m the one in control. I have the power!”
A moment of fear washed over her as she thought that perhaps his last few words weren’t directed at her but maybe someone else. As she’d previously suspected, something much deeper was going on here than her defying him. Sure James could be cold, sometimes borderline cruel but never like this. Something happened earlier to cause him to act out in a way that was not only hurting her but him as well.
Compelled to make some kind of connection to him Noelle reached out to touch his face but he pushed her hand away. He wrapped his fingers around her throat and squeezed as he pushed deeper and harder. “I said to keep your hands above your head,” he started coldly.
“James, “she gasped out for air but he continued to fuck her relentlessly.
Noelle grew light-headed as she got closer to her peak. With each thrust he’d press his thumb against her windpipe and then ease up. “Mine,’ he’d growl over and over again. While he moved in and out she could feel the distance between them grow despite her body getting closer to its climax.
When she reached one of the most explosive orgasms she’d ever experienced, she’d come to two realizations: their relationship had reached the point of no return and the thread her pride had been hanging on was completely severed.